Newcastle United fought from behind on two occasions to earn a battling 3-3 draw with Manchester United in one of the games of the season.
The points looked to be heading back to Manchester after the Red Devils took a 2-0 lead through first half goals from Wayne Rooney and Jesse Lingard, however, on the stroke of half time Georginio Wijnaldum steered home a sublime volleyed finish to give Newcastle hope.
The Magpies started the second half brightly and they were rewarded for their endeavour when Mike Dean rightly awarded a penalty after Chris Smalling and Aleksandar Mitrovic became embroiled in a wrestling match in the area, with the United defender dragging the Serbian to the canvas. Mitro picked himself up to cooly slot the ball past David De Gea and level the scoreline, as St James’ Park came to life.
Despite Newcastle pushing hard for the winning goal that would have propelled them out of the bottom three, Man United took the lead against the run of play when Wayne Rooney curled home an inch perfect finish after the ball had broke kindly to him on the edge of the box
Magpies fans and players looked completely deflated at falling behind so late on in the game after rallying back into proceedings, and goalkeeper Rob Elliot made an outrageous point blank save from Maurone Fellaini’s close range header to keep the score within touching distance heading into the final few minutes.
The Irishman’s heroics would prove to be vital as just moments later Aleksandar Mitrovic chested a right-wing cross down into the path of the onrushing Paul Dummett, who had burst forward from full-back to join the attack. The Welshman struck a ferocious left footed strike towards De Gea’s goal and it glanced off Smalling’s shoulder before nestling in the top corner, as St James’ Park erupted into a crescendo of noise.
That was to be the end of the drama, as Steve McClaren’s side had to settle for a draw, although, under the circumstances, it felt like a victory.
Here’s how the Newcastle players rated in Tuesday night’s 3-3 thriller.